Welcome back to a long one! There's some jumping around in whose POV it is between Kagome and Inuyasha, but each switch is indicated by a line. I edited this to try to make it smoother, but if it doesn't work, let me know.
Chapter 16: Beads of Subjugation
"Now remember, these beads mustn't be used to abuse any youkai, else the youkai council might seek revenge." The old woman handed Kagome a small wooden box.
"We promise Professor Kaede. We merely wish to help Yash before things get out of hand." Miroku meant it. The more time that passed with Inuyasha being exposed to whatever the youki was, the greater the risk of complications. It was worrisome that his sutra didn't do anything.
Kagome added, "I just want to purify whatever's in him. If it's really a possession, then we'll handle the youkai the normal way as soon as it abandons Yash as a vessel." Their plan was simple given the uncertainty of the situation. First, if Inuyasha had merely been exposed to some harmful youki that was bound to him, then Kagome would be able to gradually feed him spiritual energy through the beads until it was purified. He wouldn't even know she was doing anything. This time though, they wouldn't be stopped by how much energy a sutra could hold. She'd be able to give him everything she had. Alternatively, if a full youkai was trying to possess him, then the beads would be used to subjugate it. The beads can only bind to youki, so it would bind to the youkai, not Inuyasha. Again, Kagome would be able to gradually feed him spiritual energy until the youkai was forced to flee, at which point it would already be bound and easy to catch. The beads would also ensure the youkai could be stopped if it tried to attack Inuyasha. "We should have the beads back to you in 3 days!"
Kaede gave them a small smile, "I do hope so. I imagine everything he's had to go through lately made him more vulnerable. He's always been a good student, despite his sometimes rough exterior. I haven't sensed what you speak of, but if both of you have seen it, then I trust yer senses. It must be truly deep. That is why I have agreed to your proposal."
"Thank you Lady Kaede." They both bowed and headed off.
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Inuyasha POV
"Inuyasha!" She saw him sitting on the side of a park on one of the benches.
"Oh hey Kagome." She had asked him if he wanted to meet. He had replied saying that he was looking after his new niece, but she was welcome to join them in the park.
"So which one is Rin?"
Looking back at the playground, Inuyasha pointed to the girl on the swings. She was wearing a bright orange checkered shirt identical to the first oversized one he gave her, except this one fit like a shirt. She refused to part with the first one, and they managed a compromise of having it fitted for her. Seeing them, Rin waved. Kagome returned the gesture. "We're almost done finalizing everything with the adoption. Sessh pushed it all through."
"Wow. It's impossible to think of him as having a kid."
Inuyasha snorted, "surprisingly they both took to each other instantly. They've only been together for a couple days and she's following him everywhere: around town, business meetings, she even tried picking up a couple weights in the gym."
"And Sesshomaru tolerates it?"
He shrugged, "Eh. He doesn't tell her no. Usually when she's signing a lot it doesn't seem like he's paying attention, but then occasionally he'll sign back. Seems to keep her happy. It's a good thing though. I was just trying to help out the kid, not adopt her."
Kagome nodded, "I'm glad it worked out. She had good taste asking you for help."
Inuyasha blushed, then snorted, "Keh! I was just the one there."
Kagome smiled, "maybe you were. But you're the one that actually did something about it." Inuyasha looked away, embarrassed about the praise. "Oh!" She clapped, "I have something nice for you."
"Huh?"
"Come on, close your eyes."
"Man, what a pain." But he did what she asked. He heard some rustling before a gentle weight settled around his neck. With his eyes closed, he didn't see, but the beads glowed a pinkish hue.
Seeing the glow, Kagome smirked in triumph, "Ok, open!"
Inuyasha did and looked down only to see a rosary made of what seemed to be purple beads and fang shaped objects. He was new to this, but having felt the barrier at the shrine, he could wager enough of a guess to be very concerned, "what the heck are these?"
Kagome smiled innocently, "it's an enchanted rosary. It helps to bring purity and subjugate evil. I spent hours putting it together, I hope you'll wear it."
Oh crap. He had to be smart about this. "C'mon Kagome, you know I don't believe in that kinda stuff."
"So?" she countered. "I know you don't believe in it, but it's important to my family. Maybe… maybe even gramps would like you a little more. Please Inuyasha, promise me you'll wear it. It would mean so much to me." She was actually looking like she might cry.
Kagome… I suppose I don't feel any different wearing it. And who knows? Maybe this thing will actually protect me from other youkai. "Alright Kagome, if it'll make ya happy, I'll wear the silly thing."
"You will? You promise?"
He nodded. "Promise." After he did so, Kagome promptly grabbed him in a tight hug. He blushed again, "Kagome, you don't have to be all mushy about it." She just squeezed a little tighter. Suddenly both felt another pair of arms around them. At some point Rin had wandered over.
After a moment she let go. *Girl hug*
Inuyasha didn't have a clue what that meant, but seeing her smile he figured it was something positive and nodded. Poor Inu.
Suddenly Inuyasha's pocket started beeping. It was his second phone, something he was still trying to find a better name for than 'hero phone'. He had actually managed to talk his brother into having someone at the company program it. He was supposed to receive alerts for any police activity in a set radius around him. Basically anywhere that he could actually make it to in time to do any good. Originally, Sesshomaru had commissioned it so that Inuyasha would receive live updates to warn him if the police were called while he was doing vigilante work for the company. After the fire incident, he managed to convince Sesshomaru to have it active 24/7 and to alert him of all cases, not just his own sightings. It appeared there was a car case only a couple kilometers away, and heading towards him.
He hesitated, "hey Kagome, Sessh just asked me for a quick favor, you think you could watch Rin for like 20 minutes?" Reaching into his pocket he grabbed some money. "I was gonna take her for ice cream, could you…?"
"He seems to have this habit of making you make detours doesn't he?" She sighed, "Yah I can look after her, Souta was adorable at this age."
"Thank you." He handed her the money and bent down to Rin's level, pointed at Kagome, then cupped his hands together palm to palm and moved his arms in a circular motion. *Friend* It was one of the few words he had learned. Rin responded with a smile and a nod. Then he brought his index finger across his lips *Red* before making a shushing motion. It wasn't literal in case someone else saw it, but it was their own little sign meaning 'keep quiet, I'm going crimson'. Rin, taking the hint, hopped over to Kagome and grabbed her hand before nodding once sharply. "Good kid, I'll be back soon." Both waved as he ran off.
Making sure to run far enough that he was out of sight, Inuyasha then looked around for somewhere to change. The street he ran towards, though not busy, also was a large intersection. There wasn't much in the way of dark alleys. He looked around for inspiration before his eyes suddenly landed on a telephone booth with tinted sides. Taking a quick look around and seeing no cameras pointed towards it, he went inside. It was squished, but he managed to get the sword free and tried to quickly change. Eyeing the beads, he realized they had to come off or risk identifying him. He removed them, or at least he tried to. Why won't these stupid things come off? He tried getting them over his head, then he tried yanking them off, but they wouldn't budge. At least they don't hurt even in hanyou form. Hearing a siren in the distance, he realized his time was up, so he did his best to stuff the beads into his haori before exiting the cramped booth and heading in the direction of the noise.
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Kagome POV
After Inuyasha was out of sight, Kagome grabbed Rin's hand and started leading them to the nearby ice cream parlor. For herself she ordered a vanilla scoop with chocolate sauce. She then turned to Rin and out of habit asked, "what do you want?" before pointing to the flavors on display. After a few moments Rin pointed to the mint ice cream then the chocolate sauce. Kagome nodded to her and placed her order. What was that? A flare of youki? Sensing youki from time to time wasn't odd, but a flare like that was. And it seemed so familiar.
Collecting their orders, she brought Rin outside to eat. I can still feel it. It was heading perpendicular to here before, but now it's heading right towards us very quickly. Trying not to alert Rin to her discomfort, she grabbed what looked like a large bottle out of her bag. Really, it was a miniature crossbow. It was something only for an emergency, but fortunately there wasn't a huge crowd. Keeping her own spiritual energy tightly coiled and away from detection, she waited as it continued to approach.
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Stupid morons. Looking at the information on his phone and overhearing the police chatter, he figured out that they were chasing a couple of thieves. The chase was happening inside the city which meant it was only a mid-speed chase and he could keep up on rooftops. Still, he wasn't sure what to do to actually help. The police were being strategic, trying to cut them off, but there were too many streets.
"Pull over immediately!" he suddenly heard coming through a megaphone. Looking ahead, he could see the police had created a full blockade right before the park. Given his height, he looked around and saw the car as good as trapped. Oh well, guess I won't be much use in this car chase.
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It's almost here. Following her senses, her eyes went to the rooftops. There! She gasped. The crimson vigilante! They are a youkai! Honing in on the youkai, her other senses were neglected. She never acknowledged the sound of sirens. She didn't hear the horns in front of her. The car doors opening and closing. The footsteps and the shouts of panic. The little girl beside her ate her ice cream, blissfully unaware of the noise around her.
"AAAHHHHH!"
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RIN! He didn't think. There wasn't time to think. The thieves had been cornered by the police and their car came to a stop. It looked like they were going to surrender to the police, but the next instant one of them had bolted to the side and snagged a hostage: Rin. He had a knife to her throat. She was screaming and struggling the best a ten year old could. Inuyasha quickly covered the distance between them, still on the rooftop, before jumping down silently behind the thief. Before the human could even blink, he grabbed Rin away, following the knife with his eyes. Fortunately, the man was caught off guard and didn't have time to think about using the blade. The next second he was down, a fist to the face.
Adrenaline racing, he just stood there trying to catch his breath. Rin had adjusted herself in his grip to give him a hug. He responded by giving her a couple gentle pats to the head.
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It all happened too fast, she didn't have a chance to react. One second Rin was screaming next to her, and the next the youkai she had been following so closely was right in front of her holding Rin. She rushed over, "Rin! Are you…argh!" She couldn't ask her. The crimson vigilante seemed to jump at her frustrated sound before gently tapping the kid. He pointed at her then presented her with a fluctuating up and down thumb and pointed again at Kagome. The girl looked between them before smiling and giving a thumbs up. Seeing the girl's obvious ease, Kagome put a hand over her racing heart. "T-thank you. For saving her." The crimson vigilante gave her a nod. It was then that a thought occurred to her, "how'd you know she was deaf?"
He seemed to jump at the question before an odd, masculine voice started whispering, "gave her food the other day. Funny coincidence."
He did? She supposed that was sweet for a youkai, although she wished he would've brought the kid to the police like Inuyasha did. Finally registering more of her surroundings, she looked at the crowd and noticed the phones that had obviously recorded what had happened and what was happening. Guess I'll be on the news tonight. She sighed. Oh no! The demon slayers are going to see this and know I met the crimson vigilante! It wasn't exactly wrong to do nothing, but she would be scolded immensely for not using the opportunity. She took a few steps to the side so her back was to most of them. Reaching out to take Rin, she asked quietly, "Why is a youkai acting as a vigilante?"
He jumped again at the question. Handing off Rin, he answered with that odd voice, "I'm a hanyou" as if that answered everything.
It did answer some things actually. Taking a second look at his aura, she did notice some irregularities. It wasn't obvious before, simply because of the strength of his aura. When looking at his aura on the rooftop, she was worried they were dealing with a daiyoukai. "Which lord do you belong to? What's your name? What are you trying to accomplish?"
With Rin securely in her arms, he took a step back and muttered, "The Inu no Taisho." He took a deep breath before adding, "I'm the crimson vigilante… and I help all those that need it." Without another word, he leapt onto the rooftop behind him and vanished from view.
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Shit. Shit. Shit. Kagome was definitely a spiritualist. She must've been suppressing it until getting startled when Rin was grabbed. After he was able to calm down, he could feel her reiki clearly. True, he wasn't familiar with what reiki felt like, but after feeling Kagome, he was sure. And then she started asking questions. At least unlike with Souta, he had enough thought to try to disguise his voice, not something he was good at though. And then she asked his name. As if his real name wasn't enough of a dead giveaway! I guess I'll forever be known as the crimson vigilante. Damn. I should've figured out some cool hero name sooner. Finding the telephone booth from before, he grabbed his stuff and changed back into street clothes.
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"Kagome!" He found her still in the same spot as before. Some police man was talking to her.
"Inuyasha!" she excused herself. "Did you get my text? Are you ok?"
"Am I ok?" he asked, astonished. "I should be asking you that!"
"We're fine, just a little scare. And I was asking you since the cars came from the same direction you were headed. You didn't run into anything?"
He shook his head, "no, I just heard the sirens."
The two of them talked for a little longer before deciding to get some rest after the incident. Specifically, Kagome was still shaken up and insisted Rin probably was too. Inuyasha had no objections.
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Welcome to News 6 with a special report. The crimson vigilante has reached all new levels of intrigue and approval today after his heroic feat of rescuing a young child who got taken hostage by a fleeing thief. Jumping in from the roof above, the vigilante was able to grab the child before he could do any harm. The vigilante then disappeared shortly after and police were able to take the thieves into custody. One bystander of the incident captured everything on a phone camera…
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Sango: You met the crimson vigilante!?
Kags: Inuhanyou under the Inu no Taisho. Said his name was the crimson vigilante.
Sango: So, confirmed male and hanyou? Why'd he step in? Who was the kid?
Kags: That was Rin, Inuyasha's new niece. I was supposed to be watching her when it happened. He said he wanted to, and I quote, 'help all those that need it'.
Sango: …weird. Well, thanks, narrows it down a little. Can you be there when we demand an audience with the new Inu lord to discuss this?
Kags: New lord? What happened to the Inu no Taisho?
Sango: Youkai council won't talk. Some accident. He's alive, but out of commision for now.
Kags: Is the new lord competent?
Sango: Apparently cold and terrifying. He's the old one's son. The one that doesn't care for humans.
Kags: Oh. I can be there I guess.
Sango: Alright. I'll let you know.
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Good, I guess that was enough to keep the slayers off my back. Today got totally ruined. I didn't even have a chance to put much power into the beads. Suddenly her phone rang.
She sighed, "What's the matter Sango, I told you everything I know about -"
She was suddenly interrupted, "while I'm glad you had a chance to speak to my dearest Sango, I'm afraid I'm not her."
"Miroku? What's up? If you saw the news, I got really interrupted with Inuyasha, but I did get the beads on him at least."
"I noticed."
"You noticed? How's that?"
"Check your phone."
A moment later her phone dinged. He had texted her a picture. "The crimson vigilante. Looks like... today?" What was he trying to say?
"And now?"
Another text. It was more cropped, showing just the vigilante's face and upper body. "Uh, he's got a cute face?"
That earned her a laugh from Miroku, "it's probably a good thing you think so. And now?"
"Miroku, what are you trying to -" In the third, even more cropped picture, she saw it. The back of the vigilante's neck. There were beads of a rosary sticking out from the back of his haori. Her beads.
"So you met him to give him the beads. But was Inuyasha with you when the vigilante showed up?"
"No… he had run off… same as he had before our date when the vigilante helped at an apartment fire."
"Then, our friend's mysterious youki infection?"
"Inuyasha… Inuhanyou." She had to have a serious talk with her boyfriend.